Users fear cloud

Is a data breach worse if it happens in the cloud? Given that a recent Ponemon Institute report is entitled “Data Breach: The Cloud Multiplier Effect,” it sounds like the answer is yes. But the report hints at another conclusion that’s at least as significant as any dollars-and-cents cost of a security breach: the generally low opinion held by IT folks about cloud security.

The report, conducted by the Ponemon Institute and sponsored by cloud-app analytics firm Netskope, tries to put numbers — even if self-estimated — on the cost of a data breach in the cloud. It finds that because of the way cloud resources are handled in some organizations, a data breach could be up to three times costlier if it happens in the cloud.